Do You Need to Have Writing Goals?

Becoming a writer is such a strange phenomenon. You start out just wanting to tell a story, and that soon evolves into wanting to tell it better, so you dive head-first into craft books and classes.  Then you get fussy over character development. After that, you start thinking about your writer's voice and style. And before you know it, more established writers are asking you about goals.

If you're going to be a writer, do you have to have goals?

The short answer is yes! But don't close out of this blog post just yet.

Yes, you do need to have goals, but your goals don't have to be about money or fame. Remember that you sat down and started writing a story because you wanted to tell a story. That was your goal. Sure, your writing goals have grown and shrunk over the time that you've worked on your writer's toolbox (skills and techniques), but your overall goal has stayed the same. You want to tell a story.

Now, there's nothing wrong with wanting to tell a story that is also profitable. That's a great goal too, but what I often see as I bounce from writing conferences to retreats is that the writers talking at these events are usually talking about making money with their stories. Again, this is a great goal, but it's not everyone's overall writing goal. Some people just want to tell stories, and that's a GREAT goal to have as well.

Just because we don't have the same overall goals doesn't mean that we can't work together as a community. There are so many good ideas and writing tips out there, and while one of those tips is having a writing goal, I wanted to validate all sides of the writing world regardless of your long-term goals.

Some of us want to write short stories, while others only write novels. You're all fabulous!

Still others want to remodel their kitchens off the money they make from their stories. To which I say, You go writing friend!

To those who love to write fanfic because they were that invested in a story. I see you, and keep it up!

Writing friends who haven't fallen in love with a singular genre, so you keep trying out new ones. Go you!

To the awesome humans who write every day, yay! And to those who don't: those words are coming!

And to anyone in between, your goal was to tell a story, and that is the loveliest goal of all.

Happy writing.

 

Literary terms 101

You've picked up a craft book, and the writer is giving you loads of great advice but they're dropping a lot of words that sound vaguely familiar from middle school English class and you can't quite remember what they mean. Since there's a lot of lingo in the writing world, let's do a break down for our new-to-writing friends or those that need a refresher. 

Exposition: 

This is the beginning of the novel and it's setting (because setting changes throughout a story there can be multiple sections of exposition). Where are we? When are we? Who's point of view are we in? Exposition keeps the reader grounded so that they can focus on the events surrounding the main character. But too much exposition can be a bad thing. We want to know how the grass feels under the protagonist's feet, but only if that's important to establish a solid setting, otherwise it's overkill. 

Protagonist: 

The main character. 

Antagonist: 

The person OR thing standing in the way of the main character's success. For stories about survival in nature, the antagonist wouldn't be a person, but rather nature itself because that is the very thing making our poor protagonist's life hard. 

Inciting Incident: 

This is the singular event that takes our main character out of their normal day-to-day lives and thrusts them into something different. For example, Harry Potter's inciting incident in book 1 is when he receives his acceptance to Hogwarts. That one letter changes his whole life from being shoved into a cupboard to becoming one of the greatest wizards.

Rising Actions:

These are the scenes that take the story problem and make it more challenging in order to built tension within a story. It's where the writer adds complications to the problem the main character is trying to solve. These scenes lead us to the climax.

Climax:

This is the most exciting part of the story. Will our protagonist make it out alive? We're bitting our nails and staying up well past our bedtimes to read these chapters. Usually, the protagonist will have a direct faceoff with the antagonist here. 

Falling Actions:

After the climax, comes the scenes that lead us to the resolution. In these chapters, we can see how the protagonist will manage to make it through the crux of the story problem, but things haven't fully settled yet. These chapters give your reader a sense of tying up loose ends and ultimately help the reader find satisfaction in the story. Remember to not use coincidence to solve problems here, otherwise, your readers will feel frustrated instead. 

Resolution:

Our main character has gone on quite a journey from the start to the finish of the book, and they find a new normal in their day-to-day lives. For Harry, he returns to Privet Drive, but we know his life will never be the same. The same will be true for your main character, after facing their biggest challenge, they will return a little different than they were at the start of the story. 

Until next time, friends, happy writing.

It's a Newbie's Day Out!

Surprise! It's not your normal Wednesday blogger. Why? Because this chick needs some time off in order to concentrate on writing so I asked for help. Please keep the noise level down and welcome fellow Eirelander Publishing author Ashley Blade to Paranormal Romantics today.


First, I want to say thank you to Sandi for allowing me this time to blog with her.

I am a newbie. Yes, you heard me correctly, new. I have only been published for a year and in that year I have learned many things. I have learned to never limit myself and if I can’t figure something out, pull it apart and see the inner workings.

I love Paranormals, I love Fantasy and Sci-Fi. Can I write them all? I don’t know. I’m giving it a shot though.

Writing a blog, for me, is hard. I have to be serious for about five hundred to a thousand words. I can’t be serious, it’s not in me. Paranormal is the non-serious realm of writing. I know what you’re going to say, that’s blasphemy! Is it really though? Think about it, what other genre can you write from that you don’t have to follow the rules? You can make a vampire get pregnant and have kids. Or you can change up how a werewolf is made. The rules are free and far stretching. It’s all about using that imagination you used so well as a kid, and blowing it up.

I never thought I would be able to write about vampires or Gods or even about mermaids and sea creatures. It’s like waking up on Christmas morning and finding everything in your imagination is real and they want to play…with you. So you put your little hat on, your snow boots and you head out and play. You put the mermaid with the vampire and bam; there’s an interesting story. Or you can put a God with an assassin and bam, another story worth telling. Build a world of werewolves who can breathe underwater and who fight alongside the mighty Kraken to defeat the Leviathan. Can they get it done, who knows. It’s your story!

Or, why not a spirit, who haunts the house of a Vampire? Could you imagine? They would be like the Twenty-first century Odd Couple. Think about it, the spirit could be like Felix—wants everything clean and orderly. The Vamp like Oscar—leaves everything lying around including his blood covered weapons after a night of fighting rouges. And start scene!

I guess my point is, unlike other genres where the rules are stricter, Paranormal writing and reading is for the free spirit in you. So pull up a chair, grab a keyboard and let’s get to work. I got an idea floating around and it’s time to play.

My name is Ashley Blade, I love Paranormals and thinking outside the box. Who are you?

Author Bio:

Ashley Blade, the alter ego for Amanda Boyd came to be after several months driving across the country in an eighteen-wheeler. Most days she can be found behind the computer pumping out some grand adventure, but when it’s family night you can find her on the soccer field rooting her daughter on to certain victory or snuggled up with her better half and a good book.

Books Available and Coming Soon:

A Dangerous Game: Out Now
Murder 4 Hire: The many adventures of Ike the assassin: Coming October 2010
Darkest Night: Coming October 2010
Murder 4 Hire: The Gods must be crazy: Coming December 2010
Once Bitten: Winter 2010/2011

Find me on the web here:
www.ashleybladereviews.blogspot.com
www.ashleyblade.webs.com